Timesaving PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts using Shift and Ctrl

Like all software, PowerPoint has keyboard shortcuts — in fact a lot more than I will cover here. It’s always worthwhile to learn a few shortcuts that you’ll use often because you’ll save time and aggravation.

I am still surprised at how many people save by going to the File tab and click the Save item. Or copy by right-clicking and choosing Copy. The keyboard shortcut is so much faster!

I don’t set a good example when I teach, because I try to use methods that people can see on the screen that I’m sharing. So I’ll right-click and choose Copy so my students can see what I’m doing but when no one is looking, I always use Ctrl+C!

The Shift and Ctrl keys are especially useful in PowerPoint, so here are my favorite PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts. Please add yours in the comments!

Ctrl+C: Copy a selected object

Ctrl+X: Cut a selected object (to move it)

Ctrl+V: Paste the object you copied or cut

Ctrl+D: Duplicate selected objects. If you do this additional times, PowerPoint remembers the distance and direction and creates a line of equidistant objects.

Ctrl+drag: Copy and move the selected object at the same time. This is a real timesaver.

Shift+drag: Constrains the movement of the selected object to vertical or horizontal

Ctrl+Shift+drag: Copy and move the selected object, constraining the move to vertical or horizontal

Ctrl+Shift+C: Copy formatting. This is a gem. It’s the same as Pick Up and often works better than the Format Painter, which is similar.

Ctrl+Shift+V: Paste formatting. This is the same as Apply.

Shift+resize with a handle: Constrains the object you’re inserting to a square, circle, equilateral triangle, etc.

Ctrl+Shift+resize with a handle: Resizes the object from its center rather than from the handle you’re dragging

Ctrl+A: Select all objects

Ctrl+Z: Undo your most recent action. This doesn’t work all the time, but it works most of the time.

Ctrl +G: Group multiple selected objects

Ctrl+Shift+G: Ungroup the objects in a group

Ctrl+Space: Play or pause media

Tab: Indent selected text. I know, this doesn’t involve Ctrl or Shift but the next related item does.

Shift+Tab: Outdent text (Move it to the left)

Shift+F3: Toggle sentence, lower, and upper cases

Ctrl+K: Insert a hyperlink

Alt+Shift+C: Copy animation

Alt+Shift+V: Paste animation

Ctrl+S: Save. Use this often!

This blog post has been re-published by kind permission of Ellen Finkelstein – View the original post .

About the author

Ellen is a PowerPoint MVP (Most Valuable Professional, a Microsoft award), one of only 11 in the United States and 40 in the world. Her well-known website at www.ellenfinkelstein.com offers many PowerPoint tips, a blog, and the free PowerPoint Tips Newsletter. She specializes in training speakers and presenters to convert Death by PowerPoint to Life by PowerPoint; communicate clearly and powerfully; and design high-impact, persuasive and professional-looking slides.

She is an Amazon bestselling author. Some of her books and e-books are PowerPoint for Teachers: Dynamic Presentations and Interactive Classroom Projects, How to Do Everything with PowerPoint 2007 (and three earlier editions), Slide Design for Non-Designers, 101 Tips Every PowerPoint User Should Know, The Lost Art of Persuasion, and others. She has written numerous articles on presenting and PowerPoint for Microsoftâ€™s website and blog, Inside PowerPoint, SlideShare.net, PresentationXpert, Presentations magazine, and more.

Ellen Finkelstein has done training for Citrix, Brainshark, Disney, Microsoft, Pennsylvania State Education Association, Maharishi University of Management, State University of New York at Buffalo, State University of Illinois, Vastu Homes, and others. She does on-site training, 1-on-1 virtual coaching/training, and live workshops.